Mannequins on the Truffles building’s deck are the latest strategy to rent out apartments in the Tribeca building.

Mixed Use

By Patrick Hedlund

Stiff marketing
The Jack Parker Corporation’s Truffles residential project in North Tribeca has built its launch campaign around idiosyncratic marketing techniques, and now the development is using its newest permanent residents to help hawk rental units.

The tenants — a handful of well-dressed mannequins positioned strategically around the buildings’ decks and rooftops — are just the latest in a series of peculiar promotional tricks employed to draw attention to the 291-unit complex.

The idea came from the mind of one of the development’s owners, and “it just fits into our whole marketing campaign,” said Truffles spokesperson Marisa Zafran, citing the mannequins’ placement along the project’s frontage on the West Side Highway to catch more eyes from passersby. “What better way to have something else that better catches their attention?”

Since Truffles’ sales office opened last month, about 50 people have already signed leases at the building, Zafran added, with the first move-ins slated for April 1. The development also recently dropped rents — with studios going for $1,950 a month, one-bedrooms for $3,000 and two-bedrooms for $4,300 — helping to draw tenants from a broader pool.

“I think the unique thing is, we had expected more people from the area,” Zafran said, “but were having a really good mix of people from all over the city.”